ACCA aims to settle complaints faster
ACCA has said it is determined to clamp down on slow responses to complaints about members following a sharp rise in the average time taken to bring disciplinary proceedings.
According to recent findings by the institute, the average length of time it takes to bring a case to proceedings has shot up from nine months in 1999 to an average of 11 months last year.
Speaking at a recent ACCA council meeting, lawyer and proceedings expert, Nigel Barnet, said: ‘Complaints could be pursued with greater vigour. We are failing in that respect a little bit, but members must take some of the blame.
‘Some members receive notice of disciplinaries and go into denial. It can take three letters and a misconduct threat before they reply.’
He added: ‘There are others who get hostile and aggressive towards the ACCA, believing they are being victimised. We will get tough with them, it’s for their own good and we need to be firmer with members who fail to comply with our correspondence.’
Meanwhile, ACCA has predicted the number of complaints it receives will decline next year.
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